Palestinian actor-director Faisal Abu Alhajyaa is currently in Mumbai as part of Freedom Jatha, a collaboration between The Freedom Theatre in Jenin (a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank) and Delhi’s Jana Natya Manch.
Both theatres groups comment on political issues through performing arts; both have lost their founders to brutal acts of violence. Juliano Mer Kharmis, the founder of Freedom Theatre, was murdered in 2011; Safdar Hashmi, co-founder of Jana Natya Manch, was killed in 1989. Alhajyaa and Sudhanva Deshpande from the Jana Natya Manch have co-directed a play titled Hamesha Samida in Hindi and Arabic, which is currently touring 11 cities.
Alhajyaa will deliver a talk, “Creation Under Occupation” for Junoon Theatre at MCubed Library, Bandra, at 7 pm on Friday. It is an opportunity to share with Mumbai audiences a slice of his people’s struggles. He says, “We, Palestinians, have a special relationship with India. People here know what it means to live under oppression, especially the older generation. We are fighting for freedom just like you did. We have learnt about Gandhi and his resistance. We have huge respect for him. I feel sad that the current Indian government is supporting Israel for economic considerations. But I know that it does not represent the Indian street.”
The 27-year-old Alhajyaa, works at Jenin Refugee Camp and began to learn acting in 2007. He has now grown into a teacher mentoring younger Palestinians. His talk will focus on the challenges of making art in a context ridden with everyday violence.
Alhajyaa’s cousin Ashraf was one of the people killed by the Israeli Defence Forces in 2002. “There is a lot of pain in the community. But theatre gives me hope. When I am doing theatre, I feel I am not Faisal. I feel I am the voice of Palestine,” he says.
Being relevant to local audiences is also important. Therefore, the Freedom Theatre has to engage creatively with those who think theatre is against Islamic values. One strategy is to weave in Dabke, a traditional Palestinian dance form. Another is to seek inspiration from Mahmoud Darwish, a Palestinian poet who was imprisoned for his revolutionary writing.
“I remember the time we were performing this play called Island about the apartheid era in South Africa. It got people very excited. They were connecting it with the condition of Palestinians in Israeli prisons,” says Alhajyaa. Written by Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona, the play is about the friendship between two prison inmates.
One is to be released soon, and the other is serving a life sentence. They spend their nights rehearsing to perform Sophocles’ Antigone . Even in their agony, art keeps them afloat.
(The author is a Mumbai-based freelance writer)
Alhajyaa’s cousin Ashraf was killed by the Israeli Defence Forces
in 2002
